High-friction glove/wrist guards for ice skating

ABSTRACT

A protective glove/wrist guard device is provided that prevents hands from slipping out from under a falling ice skater when the ice skater extends his or her hands to break a fall. The protective glove/wrist guard device may include a palm surface portion having a high-friction surface portion, to provide both high-friction when contacting ice, and wrist support to help prevent wrist and hand injuries. Alternatively, the protective device may be in the form of a glove with a high friction material disposed on a palm surface portion of the glove.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser.No. 60/758,155, filed on Jan. 11, 2006, the entirety of which isincorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

1. Field of the Disclosure

This disclosure relates generally to protective equipment for iceskating, and more particularly, to equipment for preventing head andface injuries among ice skaters.

2. Background Description

Recreational ice skating is a popular pastime among adults and children.Unfortunately, falls that occur while ice skating can result in seriousinjuries, such as for example, head and face injuries when a skater'sface or head impacts the ice due to a fall.

Recent research focusing on pediatric subjects has indicated that thereare distinctive differences in patterns of injuries of ice skaterscompared to roller and in-line skaters. While roller and in-line skaterstend to sustain fractures to the wrist and forearm, ice skaters weresignificantly more likely to sustain concussions. There is nosubstantial difference in the direction that ice and roller skaterstypically fall (both groups typically fall forward much more often thanthey fall backward or to the side) and the majority of both groupsattempt to break their fall with their hands.

However, ice skaters are much less successful in preventing injury byusing their hands to break a fall, compared to roller and in-lineskaters. A significantly higher proportion of ice skaters have theirhead impact the ice during a fall, even when attempting to break aforward fall using outstretched hands. This appears to be because ice isa low-friction surface, while roller rinks, sidewalks, streets, etc.,present significantly more friction as compared to ice, e.g., when askater's hands impact the ground during a fall. Thus, when an ice skatersticks out his or her hands when falling, the hands slip out from underthe skater and the skater's head impacts the ice. Conversely, whenroller skaters or in-line skaters use their hands to break a fall, theyare typically able to keep their head from hitting, although they maysustain injury to their hands, forearms, and/or wrists.

In order to prevent injuries to the hands, forearms, and/or wrists ofroller skaters and in-line skaters, wrist guards have been developedthat include one or more rigid inserts or splints, that serve tostabilize the wrist upon impact with the ground. One example of suchwrist guards is disclosed in Hu, U.S. Pat. No. 5,600,849, issued on Feb.11, 1997. The Hu patent discloses a wrist guard with a rigid palm padfor protecting a wearer against impact and abrasion. Such wrist guards,however, do not present a high-friction surface for use during iceskating to help prevent a skater's head from impacting the ice due tothe skater's hands slipping upon contacting the ice.

One possible solution to the problem of head injuries for ice skaters isto promote helmet use among ice skaters, and particularly amongpediatric ice skaters. However, because ice skaters typically fallforward, only a helmet with a full face shield will offer fullprotection from head injury. Children are especially unlikely totolerate wearing such a helmet for recreational ice skating.Accordingly, a more effective method of preventing head injury among iceskaters is to prevent the head from hitting the ice during a fall.

This disclosure is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems ordisadvantages associated with the prior art.

SUMMARY

According to one aspect of the disclosure, a protective device isprovided that reduces the tendency of hands slipping out from under afalling ice skater when the ice skater extends his or her hands to breaka fall. The protective device may be a glove/wrist guard and may includean ice engaging surface covered with a high-friction material. Thedevice may provide both high-friction when contacting ice, and wristsupport to reduce the risk of wrist, forearm, and/or hand injuries.

The high-friction material may be any suitable material, such as a soft,spongy, rubber compound similar to those that are used on the soles ofbroom ball shoes, curling “gripper” shoes, and the like.

According to another aspect of the invention, a protective glove for iceskating includes an upper portion covering at least a portion of a backof the hand of the ice skater and a lower portion covering at least aportion of a palm of the hand of the ice skater. The lower portion mayinclude a palm surface portion that is covered with a high-frictionmaterial.

According to still another aspect of the invention, a method of iceskating while reducing the risk of injury suffered by an ice skater froma fall that may occur during ice skating is provided. The methodincludes: wearing a protective device on each hand during ice skating,each protective device including an ice engaging surface that is coveredwith a high-friction material; and, in the event of a fall, extendingone or both hands toward the ice such that the high-friction materialcontacts the ice.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view, taken from below, of a protectiveglove/wrist guard that includes a high-friction surface on a palmportion thereof;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the glove/wrist guard of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the glove/wrist guard of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a side view of the glove/wrist guard FIG. 1; and

FIG. 5 is a perspective view, taken from below, of a protective glovethat includes a high-friction surface on a palm portion thereof.

While the method and device described herein are susceptible to variousmodifications and alternative constructions, certain illustrativeembodiments thereof have been shown in the drawings and will bedescribed below in detail. It should be understood, however, that thereis no intention to limit the invention to the specific forms disclosed,but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications,alternative constructions, and equivalents falling within the spirit andscope of the disclosure and the appended claims.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Although the following text sets forth a detailed description ofnumerous different embodiments of the invention, it should be understoodthat the legal scope of the invention is defined by the words of theclaims set forth at the end of this patent. The detailed description isto be construed as exemplary only and does not describe every possibleembodiment of the invention since describing every possible embodimentwould be impractical, if not impossible. Numerous alternativeembodiments could be implemented, using either current technology ortechnology developed after the filing date of this patent, which wouldstill fall within the scope of the claims defining the invention.

It should also be understood that, unless a term is expressly defined inthis patent using the sentence “As used herein, the term ‘______’ ishereby defined to mean . . . ” or a similar sentence, there is no intentto limit the meaning of that term, either expressly or by implication,beyond its plain or ordinary meaning, and such term should not beinterpreted to be limited in scope based on any statement made in anysection of this patent (other than the language of the claims). To theextent that any term recited in the claims at the end of this patent isreferred to in this patent in a manner consistent with a single meaning,that is done for sake of clarity only so as to not confuse the reader,and it is not intended that such claim term by limited, by implicationor otherwise, to that single meaning. Finally, unless a claim element isdefined by reciting the word “means” and a function without the recitalof any structure, it is not intended that the scope of any claim elementbe interpreted based on the application of 35 U.S.C. §112, sixthparagraph.

With reference initially to FIG. 1, a protective device for covering ahand of an ice skater may be in the form of a glove/wrist guard 10 andmay include a lower portion, covering at least a portion of a palm ofthe hand of the ice skater, that may be in the form of a lower stiffener12 disposed on the palm area of the hand of the ice skater, and an upperportion, covering at least a portion of a back of the hand of the iceskater, that may be in the form of an upper stiffener 14 disposed on theback side of the hand of the ice skater. Each of the stiffeners 12 and14 may be made from a rigid material, such as plastic or metal, andserve to support the wrist of the ice skater. The glove/wrist guard 10may also include one or more attachment bands 16, that may be removablysecured using any appropriate fastening mechanism, such as, for example,hook-and-loop fasteners. The glove/wrist guard 10 may also include aflexible glove portion 18 that may be removably attached to thestiffeners 12 and 14, and may be sized and shaped to conform to theshape of a skater's hand 20. Alternatively, the glove/wrist guard 10 maybe sized and shaped to fit over a glove or a mitten. The flexible gloveportion 18 may be made from any suitable material, such as leather,elasticized fabric, etc.

The lower stiffener 12 and/or the glove portion 18 may include an iceengaging surface in the form of a palm surface portion 22. The palmsurface portion 22 may cover all or part of the palm of a user's handand/or the palm side of one or more fingers of a user's hand, and may becovered with a high-friction material, such as sponge rubber of the typethat is used typically for the soles of curling shoes, broomball shoes,and the like. Alternatively, any other suitable high-friction materialmay be used on the palm surface portion 22. The palm surface portion maybe attached to the lower stiffener 12 and/or the glove portion 18 in anysuitable manner, such as, for example, by adhesive bonding, stitching,etc.

In the event that a skater wearing a pair of the glove/wrist guards 10falls to the ice, the skater may simply extend his or her hands in aninstinctive manner to break the fall, such that the high-frictionsurface of the palm surface portion 22 of each glove/wrist guard 10contacts the ice. The palm surface portion 22 helps to create a loadpath between the ice and the skater's shoulders, and thereby may tend toprevent the skater's head from impacting the ice (or at least lessensthe energy of an impact of the skater's head on the ice), rather thansliding out from under the skater, as would be the case without havingthe benefit of such a high-friction surface.

Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 5, one or both of the stiffeners 12 and14 may be omitted (and the upper and lower portions may be made fromfabric, leather, etc.), and a high-friction material patch 24 may besimply provided on a palm surface portion 26 of a flexible glove 28, forexample by stitching, adhesive bonding, etc., in order to provide aprotective device for ice skating In other respects, the glove 28 may beboth constructed and used in a manner substantially similar to theglove/wrist guard 10 of FIGS. 1 through 4. The glove 28, while notoffering a great deal of wrist support to a skater during a fall, maynonetheless help prevent the skater's head from impacting the ice whenthe skater uses his or her hands to break a fall, in a manner similar tothat discussed above with respect to the glove/wrist guard 10.

While the preceding text sets forth a detailed description of numerousdifferent embodiments of the invention, it should be understood that thelegal scope of the invention is defined by the words of the claims setforth at the end of this patent. The detailed description is to beconstrued as exemplary only and does not describe every possibleembodiment of the invention since describing every possible embodimentwould be impractical, if not impossible. Numerous alternativeembodiments could be implemented, using either current technology ortechnology developed after the filing date of this patent, which wouldstill fall within the scope of the claims defining the invention. Forexample, the high-friction material may be applied to other surfacesinstead of or in addition to the palm surface portion, and the rubbercompound described above may be supplemented by or substituted by otherhigh-friction materials, such as those that are used on other footweartraction devices. For example, other types and/or combinations ofhigh-friction materials, such as those that include metal coils, metalstuds, etc., may be used, as well as non-slip fabrics, and/or safetytape that may include an abrasive surface similar to sandpaper. Inaddition, the invention is not limited to the context of ice skating,and could be used in conjunction with any activity that is performed ona slippery surface, such as, for example, walking on ice, playingbroomball, curling, etc. Other aspects and features of the disclosuremay be obtained from a study of the drawings, the disclosure, and theappended claims.

1. A protective device for placement on the hand of an ice skater duringice skating, the protective device comprising: an upper portion coveringat least a portion of a back of the hand of the ice skater; and a lowerportion covering at least a portion of a palm of the hand of the iceskater; wherein at least one of the upper portion and the lower portionincludes an ice engaging surface that is covered with a high-frictionmaterial.
 2. The protective device of claim 1, wherein the high-frictionmaterial is sponge rubber.
 3. The protective device of claim 1, furtherincluding at least one stiffener for supporting the wrist of the iceskater.
 4. The protective device of claim 3, including a flexible gloveportion removably attached to the at least one stiffener.
 5. Theprotective device of claim 1, wherein the ice engaging surface covers atleast a portion of the palm of the hand of the ice skater.
 6. Aprotective glove for ice skating, comprising: an upper portion coveringat least a portion of a back of the hand of the ice skater; and a lowerportion covering at least a portion of a palm of the hand of the iceskater; wherein the lower portion includes a palm surface portion thatis covered with a high-friction material.
 7. The protective glove ofclaim 6, wherein the high-friction material is a sponge rubber material.8. A method of ice skating while reducing the risk of injury suffered byan ice skater from a fall that may occur during ice skating, the methodcomprising: wearing a protective device on each hand during ice skating,each protective device including an ice engaging surface that is coveredwith a high-friction material; and in the event of a fall, extending oneor both hands toward the ice such that the high-friction materialcontacts the ice.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the high-frictionmaterial is sponge rubber.
 10. The method of claim 8, wherein the iceengaging surface covers at least a portion of the palm of the hand ofthe ice skater.